Apparatus and method for providing interactive evaluation of potential vendors
First Claim
1. A method for evaluating supplier capabilities to qualify a supplier as a vendor for a project, comprising the steps of:
- selecting requirements necessary for vendor qualification for said project, each of said requirements having a relative weight assigned on the basis of project objectives;
providing said requirements to said supplier;
receiving supplier responses to said provided requirements, respectively;
assigning a scaled score for each of said supplier responses on the basis of corresponding desired vendor responses;
calculating in a computer-based processing system said supplier compliance level in accordance with said relative weight of a corresponding requirement and said scaled score of said corresponding supplier response;
conducting a supplier site evaluation based on a supplier compliance level and generating an on-site evaluation report in response thereto;
comparing said on-site evaluation report with said supplier compliance level to provide a combined supplier evaluation; and
selecting said supplier as said vendor in accordance with said combined supplier evaluation.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An arrangement (apparatus and method) for providing an interactive evaluation of suppliers as proposed vendors for a project. A supplier evaluation system comprises a database storing a plurality of maturity requirements and recognized quality standards, and a main processing system for compiling selected standards and quality maturity requirements in accordance with project objectives. The project requirements are supplied by a communication network to a supplier in the form of an interactive supplier self-evaluation system. Alternatively, the supplier self-evaluation system may be provided to a supplier on a CD-ROM. The supplier self-evaluation system is arranged to include a plurality of objective questions corresponding to the selected maturity requirements. A supplier may selectively access local database files on the CD-ROM for information regarding the selected maturity requirements, or may remotely access the supplier evaluation system databases for supplemental information. After uploading the supplier responses to the supplier evaluation system, a supplier maturity level is calculated. An on-site supplier audit is thereafter conducted to confirm supplier responses and to obtain any additional information. Supplier approval is dependent upon a minimum supplier maturity level based upon the scored supplier responses to the maturity questions and the on-site audit.
499 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method for evaluating supplier capabilities to qualify a supplier as a vendor for a project, comprising the steps of:
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selecting requirements necessary for vendor qualification for said project, each of said requirements having a relative weight assigned on the basis of project objectives; providing said requirements to said supplier; receiving supplier responses to said provided requirements, respectively; assigning a scaled score for each of said supplier responses on the basis of corresponding desired vendor responses; calculating in a computer-based processing system said supplier compliance level in accordance with said relative weight of a corresponding requirement and said scaled score of said corresponding supplier response; conducting a supplier site evaluation based on a supplier compliance level and generating an on-site evaluation report in response thereto; comparing said on-site evaluation report with said supplier compliance level to provide a combined supplier evaluation; and selecting said supplier as said vendor in accordance with said combined supplier evaluation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for evaluating supplier capabilities to qualify a supplier as a vendor for a project, comprising:
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a first database system storing a plurality of industry quality standards; a second database system storing supplier information including existing vendor performance reports, historical vendor performance reports, supplier responses to project proposals, and audit reports generated during on-site evaluations of the supplier in accordance with selected quality maturity requirements; processing means for generating said selected quality maturity requirements from said first database system, said processing means generating a first-tier supplier maturity level on the basis of said supplier responses to said corresponding quality maturity requirements each having a weight value, and a second-tier supplier maturity level on the basis of said audit reports performed in accordance with said supplier responses and said first-tier maturity level; and a terminal device for providing data access to said processing means. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A supplier self-evaluation system for responding to a request for proposal, comprising:
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a template file storing a plurality of supplier questions for said request for proposal; a local database storing a plurality of maturity requirements corresponding to said request for proposal; a control system for successively displaying one of said supplier questions from said template file and generating a supplier response file in response to user inputs, said control system comprising an access routine selectively accessing said maturity requirements corresponding to said displayed one supplier question in response to a first user access request, said access routine accessing, in response to a second user access request, a remote database to retrieve remote data supplemental to and complementary with said selectively accessed maturity requirements. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for responding to a request for proposal, comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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reading an electronic file comprising a plurality of questions related to said request for proposal, at least one of said plurality of questions corresponding to a selected set of quality maturity requirements; successively displaying said plurality of questions during an interactive session; selectively accessing a specification database in response to a supplier access request, to obtain information on the quality maturity requirements corresponding to a selected one of said displayed questions; receiving a supplier response to at least one of said displayed questions, and storing said at least one supplier response in an electronic file to generate a supplier response file. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of sequences of instructions, said plurality of sequences of instructions including sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause said processor to perform the steps of:
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receiving an electronic file comprising a plurality of questions related to a request for proposal, at least one of said plurality of questions corresponding to a selected set of quality maturity requirements; successively displaying said plurality of questions during an interactive session; selectively accessing a specification database in response to a supplier access request to obtain information on the quality maturity requirements corresponding to a selected one of said displayed questions; receiving a supplier response to at least one of said displayed questions; and storing said supplier response in an electronic file to generate a supplier response file. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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35. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of sequences of instructions, said plurality of sequences of instructions including sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause said processor to perform the steps of:
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receiving an electronic file comprising a plurality of questions related to a request for proposal, at least one of said plurality of questions corresponding to a selected set of quality maturity requirements; successively displaying said plurality of questions during an interactive session; selectively accessing a local database in response to a first supplier access request, to obtain information on the quality maturity requirements corresponding to a selected one of said displayed questions; selectively accessing a remote database in response to a second supplier access request, to retrieve remote data supplemental to, and complementary with, said selectively accessed maturity requirements; receiving a supplier response to at least one of said displayed questions; and storing said supplier response in an electronic file to generate a supplier response file. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38)
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Specification